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the_thinker · Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Posts: 68

There was a study that found that students are better at learning vocabulary (they tested both immediate and delayed recall of the lexis) if they are given L1 translations than if they are given definitions in the target language.

Could it be the obsession with not using the L1 comes from the fact that many native speaker EFL teachers do not share their student's L1 ...?

teacheratlarge · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 192 Location: Japan

Might depend on how you define ' learned'.

The use of L1 for adult learning of another language is natural, but I can't say it always helps. Depends on a number of factors: total time needed to reach language goals, access to 'useful' L2 language, student personality, preferred student learning style, class size, etc.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 10:30 am Post subject:

What is this study, and where can I read it?

the_thinker · Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Posts: 68

sprightly · Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 136 Location: England

that is an interesting study--i think there's a dearth of facts available to many tesl/tefl people and a lot of us are running on gut and history.

i would have liked to see a third group who were given target language definitions. there is research in other fields showing that if mental effort is expending in learning something, it sticks longer. i can't back that up with references, sorry. but it makes logical sense, given that it's a form of practice.

the_thinker · Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Posts: 68

sprightly · Joined: 07 May 2003 Posts: 136 Location: England

yes, but i would think it's much faster to offer a TL definition than to have students work it out from context, which would address teh classroom management concern someone else mentioned.

i've read something in the last year suggesting that we can only work out meaning from context if we understand at least 90% of the context material--which may not be realistic for many learners. i read a french novel this week and did a lot of contextual figuring out but can't remember any of the words except 'ankle.' i expect i'd know them if i came across them in context again.

this is now personally interesting because i need to buckle down and learn spanish, and don't want to waste time!

the_thinker · Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Posts: 68

Yes I think I've read the same thing about inferring from context. There was a very interesting article in ETP (I think) a few years back where someone decided to develop his reading skills in Spanish by doing intensive reading and applying the reading strategies that are often taught in ELT. He mentioned how frustrating and unsatisfactory he found guessing meaning from context.

Mike E · Joined: 06 Oct 2011 Posts: 132

I've seen beginner level classes go derailed through an unexpected lack of understanding that could be cleared up in five seconds through L1 translation. And in those cases, I think it's absolutely fine to do it that way (if you can, of course).

scot47 · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343

Monoglots are usually against the use of anything except their own variety of Anglic, innit ?

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2013 7:09 pm Post subject:

An A4 sheet of a few classroom language phrases translated into the learners' own language, at the beginning of the course - this is all a teacher should need, even with zero beginners. There is a course book, after all. Stick to it, let it provide as much support, visual support, as the class may need. Much better than mispronouncing their language - which is what the majority of anglophone teachers would do with the learners' first language.

the_thinker · Joined: 24 Nov 2009 Posts: 68

Mike E · Joined: 06 Oct 2011 Posts: 132

Sashadroogie · Posted: Thu Aug 08, 2013 4:06 am Post subject:

Who is being dogmatic? Me?! Surely not!!!

However, I was talking about need. If a teacher needs to resort to L1 to 'move a class forward', then something has gone seriously wrong. It may be a case that it is easier to translate something quickly - sometimes - but to need to do so is unacceptable. Beginner classes going off the rails? Something more fundamental is at play there than L1 .

Local teachers can provide translation far, far more effectively than we can in nearly every classroom situation. Our whole raison d'etre is that we cannot usually speak to learners in L1, so why undermine ourselves?

Ultimately, standing ovations aside, if a teacher needs to use L1 for any of the reasons on the above list, this is tantamount to an admission of failure, both on the teacher's part, and of the whole edifice of ELT methodology, which will crumble slowly, and then collapse around all of our ears!

Beware! You have been warned!!!